Upright vacuum cleaners are well known in the art. Typically, these vacuum cleaners include an upper housing pivotally mounted to a vacuum cleaner foot. The foot is formed with a nozzle opening defined in an underside thereof and may include an agitator mounted therein for loosening dirt and debris from a floor surface. A motor and fan may be mounted to either the foot or the housing for producing suction at the nozzle opening. The suction at the nozzle opening picks up the loosened dirt and debris and produces a flow of dirt-laden air which is ducted to the vacuum cleaner housing.
In conventional vacuum cleaners, the dirt laden air is ducted into a filter bag supported on or within the vacuum cleaner housing. Alternatively, bagless vacuum cleaners duct the flow of dirt-laden air into a dirt separation system having a dirt cup which filters the dirt particles from the airflow before exhausting the filtered airflow into the atmosphere. Various dirt separation systems have been used on bagless vacuum cleaners to separate the dirt particles from the airflow.
Typically, a bagless vacuum needs a latch to secure the bagless dirt separation system to the vacuum cleaner. In addition, it is also desirable to provide a carry handle which allows the operator to easily move the dirt to a dirt collecting receptacle. Some bagless vacuum cleaners provide a latching mechanism integrated within the housing combined with a separate carry handle integrated within the dirt cup. Typically, these separate latch and hand systems are complex and add cost to the vacuum cleaners. Other systems have an integrated latch and carry handle on the lid of the dirt cup. Such systems have the disadvantage of not allowing the operator to manipulate the dirt cup with the carry handle when the lid is removed from the dirt cup.
What is needed therefore, is a handle and latch systems that overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks.